Photon-limited single-pixel imaging.

Photon-limited imaging technique is desired in tasks of capturing and reconstructing images by detecting a small number of photons. However, it is still a challenge to achieve high photon-efficiency. Here, we propose a novel photon-limited imaging technique that explores the consistency of photon detection probability in a single pulse and light intensity distribution in a single-pixel correlated imaging system. We demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that our technique can reconstruct a high-quality 3D image by using only one pulse each frame, thereby achieving a high photon efficiency of 0.01 detected photons per pixel. Long-distance field experiments for 100 km cooperative target and 3 km practical target are conducted to verify its feasibility. Compared with the conventional single-pixel imaging, which requires hundreds or thousands of pulses per frame, our technique saves two orders of magnitude in the consumption of total light power and acquisition time. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement